Container assembly



1951 c. E. CHRISTOPHERSEN 7 4 CONTAINER ASSEMBLY Filed July 14, 1948 INVENTOR. (Mei/v6: E QZ/ifO/flEZSE/Y BY I Patented Oct. 9, 1951 o'tmrrhnvnn ASSEMBLY.

caresses?oliristcpiiersen; Inglewood;- cau-rr; its--- liy m'esne assignments; to: Jack and Hintzzz Brcision: Industries, Ina",z Ole'iielimdi. v Ohio, a corporation of Delaware simiieatioarniitii4, 194s;.seriaiivo:3s;rz02* 1'.o1a.:m;=.- (01. 224-3211 taiiier' assembly rcruse on Iiiotoi'ize and pertains more directly to a coiirbina iori'aind arrangement of parts which provides s'eparate and distinct containersfor fuel and" for accessories and tools hile-retainingthe appearance;

izi've'ntion' relatestti a diialpprpose con solidity; and firm mountingof asingle container;

carrymeeded tools;- accessories;=.wiping cloths; and

the-dike;

The present invention: eliminates? these diffieculties and provides various: advantageous fea= tu're'ssin' addition. In the: new: construction a tank: or container" is mounted= at each. side of the cross-bar. The one tank, which- .-isrexclusively fori-fiielghas:at'zleasttasia muchi capacity as the conventional single tank. The second tank or container, of the same-volumetric :cap acity, provides. storage space for. tools... accessories,-.v etc-.,

including small articles of clothing. The. arrangementis such. thatione. tankis. located at each side of the'cross-barand the'major portion of eachitank is below the c'ross-bar. In most ed-Elias two crossebarsuandthe resent invention takes advantage. of. this v.fafctibwso looa't n'gi'tlie tanks: that. the. second,. or. lower; bar serves to prevent any unduelateralmovemeht of tl'ietanks ln theieventl that the clamping nieanst bechnies slightly loosened."v V g In .the as=emb1y and'mounting of the invention, the. accessory container-'isjfii s't attached ;to' the cfioss=bar; or to the upper ofj' two: cross-hats; by a;pai1i*o-clamps-with1 fasteners extending; thru aiwallgj of" the container: wnen; it is fi'r'mlig atfamine ,fuetcontainer "is placed on. thefopposite-side of the bar: The" fasteners fortli'e' fuel container do not pass thru its wall but are attached to the exterior surface only, as by welding, thus avoiding any possibility of leakage. The fasteners of the fuel container pass thru the adjacent wall of the accessory container and nuts are applied thereto by way of a hand hole in the outer wall of the accessory container.

to conceal it ancl'thebar: This strip is-provided with depeiidiiig means whiehare 'e'n'gagetl by the will prevent: n nitthe siigntst rotation of tl'ie asseniblyabout tl'ie upper liar." Other-features andadvantages"of 'the inven tion' wilF become apparent? as= the description of a= bicycle f-itame 'with the novel container as Sammy-momma hereon; part ofone containen sang brok en awayy- Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken=along 1ihe 2 2"of' Fig. 1 slioWi-hgthe manne'F-of attacl'iment ofthietparts d ther-assembly;

3 is attbp plan view of'the assemblyfwitli" a:portibnoff'tlie'covef'strip broken: away? and Fig: 4. is. an enlarged.perspective View of tlie clamp elementsfor-:attaching'the: accessoryfcorht'ai'ne'r'to thehcross=barr Asdfndi'cated'i'inFig. 11; theassemblyis mounted one Bicycle"frame;generally indicatedat Inf-and" including,an uppercrossbar| 2"and ai1owercross= bar Hi.

v As. ,bestQs'een iii-Fig.- 2',. ,t-he..tank' I 6 $ha-sianlou-ter. curved: wall 2 0, tog-ethera with inward extensions- 01; vv allss 22- and; 24 which are-slightly curved-:1 The: innera W311i. 2-6 isi vertical:v ands substantially fiatiand; is bent in. a; reverse: curveiatiitszperipherytoiprovide a flange- 28 suhstantiallyknormaltouts plane: 'lheiimaerimarginssofftliei outer wallsare placed in juxtaposition" to the flangeand-*' permanently secured thereto, as by spot'wel'dingi 'I h'e o'I-iiiplte--c'ciri'tai-hei so fo'rr'neeli provided with Hand" hole" or-acces's-- opening 30" were vide access to the various fastening devices and also to provide for insertion of tools, accessories and the like into the container.

The access opening is provided with a door 32,

hinged at 34 by means of a D-type hinge arm 36 to a bracket 38 on the inner wall of the container. A conventional latch 40, pivoted at 42 is provided with a push button operator 44.

A pair of clamping devices serve to attach the accessory container to the cross-bar. To provide for such attachment, two pairs of vertically elom gated openings 46 are formed in the inner wall 26, as best seen in Fig. 4. Each clamp comprises a saddle member 48 having a central arcuate portion 50 and two flat end portions 52, and a collar member 54 having a central, complemen-,

tary arcuate portion 56 and flat end portions 58. The free ends of portions 58 are flanged and partially cut away to provide detents 80 to interengage with portions 52 and prevent relative rotation and misalignment of the saddle and collar.

The saddle is provided with upper and lower horizontally elongated openings" 62 and the collar is provided with corresponding openings 64. 'It" will be apparent that when bolts are passed thru these openings, the clamp can be adjusted vertically and laterally thru a wide range with respect to the container to accommodate difierences in the shape of the cross-bar I2. v

Turning back to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the saddle and collar are placed around cross-bar I 2 and bolts 66 are passed from the inside of container l6 thru openings 46, 62 and 84, whereupon nuts 68 are threaded on their shanks and tightened to clamp the container in position.

Fuel container 18 is formed substantially as a mirror image of container l 6 so that the two are substantially symmetrical about the plane thru the two cross-bars. Container I 8 has an outer curved wall together with upper and lower extensions or walls 12 and 14. The upper wall has a filler neck 76 with a conventional cap 18 and the lower wall has a fuel outlet 80. The inner wall 82 is substantially flat and vertical and. has a peripheral flange 84 similar to the flange 28, permanently attached to the margin of the other walls and sealed against fuel leakage, as by seam welding.

Container I8 is attached to container l6 by means of a plurality of bolts the heads 86 of which are permanently attached to wall 82 as by welding and the shanks 88 of which pass thru openings 90 in wall 26. The bolts may be shouldered to act as spacers or separate spacers 92 in the form of tubular sections may be slipped over the bolt shanks to predetermine the distance between the containers. Nuts 94 are then applied to the bolts and the assembly pulled up tight.

The construction so far described leaves an unsightly gap between the containers. This is eliminated by the provision of a cover strip 96 overlying the inner margins of the containers and extending substantially the full length of the tank as illustrated in Fig. 1. The cover strip is provided with a plurality of small, narrow, laterally extending detent strips 98 welded to its underside. Each of these strips is J'oggled downwardly at its two free ends to provide a space I00 between such end and the margin of the cover strip'for the reception of a portion of the periphery of the flanges 28 and 84 with their associated wall members. a

:After container I6 is mounted in place the cover strip is pushed into position with one of its .4 edges overlying the margin of the container and the detent strips underlying it. As container 18 is moved into position its margin is also properly engaged. When the assembly is completed the cover strip is held firmly in place and cannot be removed until the containers are disassembled. The total assembly gives the general impression of the tank on a full size motorcycle and is much more firmly mounted than the conventional type of: bicycle tank. In addition it provides much needed storage space. Since the fuel tank is mounted on the accessory tank instead of on the cross-bar and the attaching bolts are straight and permanently secured to the fuel tank, there is a minimum of strain to produce subsequent leakage.

. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the construction as disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is intended that all such changes and modifications shall be embraced within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A unitary dual purpose container assembly adapted for mounting on the cross-bar of a motorized bicycle comprising: a first hollow, elongated accessory container having an inner wall lying substantially in a vertical plane and an outer curved wall the extensions of which are joined to said inner wall to form a flange extend ing inwardly substantially at right angles to the general plane of said inner wall; cross-bar clamping means adapted to engage a cross-bar and clamp said fuel container thereto; a second hollow, elongated container substantially symmetrical with said accessory container and adapted to be mounted in juxtaposition thereto and having a flange facing the flange of said accessory container; and a cover strip adapted to overlie and conceal the gap between the assembled containers; said strip having means inter-engaging with said flanges to retain said strip in position when said containers are placed in assembled relation to comprise said unitary dual purpose container a sem v.

CLARENCE E. CHRISTOPHERSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

. UNITED STATES PATENTS Switzerland Feb. 16, 1939 

